


Collage

by LBibliophile



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bingo Fill, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Star Spangled Bingo 2020, Steve Rogers Has Issues, Therapy, Whumptober 2020, and is not, but is dealing with them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile
Summary: “You really think you don’t have anything you need to talk about? Because my therapist doesn’t just help with the Winter Soldier shit, y’know. I’m learning how to be a person again, and that means dealing witheverythingthat makes me who I am.“In your case, there’s Captain-America-who-fights-aliens, Captain-Rogers-who-fights-Nazis, Steve-from-the-40s-who-fights-bullies, and Stevie-who-became-a-big-buff-supersoldier-to-hopefully-win-some-of-said-fights. And that’s just the obvious. No wonder you’re a mess.”For:Whumptober 2020 - Day 11: Psych 101Star Spangled Bingo 2020 - Mental illness
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Star Spangled Bingo 2020, Whumptober 2020





	Collage

**Author's Note:**

> This little conversation has been sitting in my drafts for a while. Since I still haven't come up with a fic to fit it, I figure I'll just post it as-is.

_He wasn’t sure what to think when Sam first ‘suggested’ it. Therapy wasn’t really something that existed when he was growing up. Back then, you were either irredeemably crazy or you just dealt with it. On the other hand, he supposes, if spending seventy years as a brainwashed and periodically frozen assassin isn’t enough to justify being crazy, what is?_

_But therapy has been about more than just that. The more he remembers of his past, the more he realises he was falling even before he fell from the train. His therapist has helped him pick through the shards of his life, putting them back together into something that is stronger than it was before._

_\---_

Bucky looks up from his notebook, catching the attention of his friend sitting at the other end of the couch.

“Hey Steve, what's your therapist like? I wanna compare to mine.”

“I don’t have a therapist.”

“Alright,” he tries again, “how about the one you had when you first thawed out? What were they like?”

Steve frowns in confusion.

“I’ve… never had a therapist.”

“Never?”

“Well, why would I?” he shrugs. “SHIELD made sure I knew what I needed to about this time. And I know you need to work through everything with the Winter Soldier, but I don’t have anything like that.”

Bucky closes his notebook and sits up straighter, focusing on his friend.

“You really think you don’t have anything you need to talk about? Because my therapist doesn’t just help with the Winter Soldier shit, y’know. There’s also the Sergeant Barnes shit, and the James-from-the-40’s shit, and the Bucky-Captain-America's-best-friend shit. I’m learning how to be a person again, and that means dealing with _everything_ that makes me who I am.”

“Yes, but –”

Bucky recognises the stubborn set to Steve’s jaw and keeps going, talking over him.

“In your case, there’s Captain-America-who-fights-aliens, Captain-Rogers-who-fights-Nazis, Steve-from-the-40s-who-fights-bullies, Stevie-who-became-a-big-buff-supersoldier-to-hopefully- _win_ -some-of-said-fights." He looks up from where he's been counting on his fingers. "And that’s just the obvious. You haven’t properly talked with someone about _any_ of that? No wonder you’re a mess.”

“But I’m _fine_.”

Buck just _looks_ at him. He didn’t let Steve get away with that bullshit when he used to come home tiny and bloody and bruised, and he’s no letting him get away with it now.

Steve fidgets as the silence stretches, before finally giving in.

“I suppose, when you put it like that…”


End file.
